COVID-19 impact on the oil and gas industry NO2 emissions: A case study of the Permian basin

COVID-19 caused a historic collapse in fossil fuel demand, a general decline in economic activity, and hydrocarbon price volatility. This resulted in an unprecedented scenario to evaluate the contribution of the O&G (Oil and Gas) industry NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) emissions in the Permian basin (United States), currently the second largest hydrocarbon-bearing area on Earth. TROPOMI (Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument), on board the Sentinel-5P satellite, has captured the impact of the oil and gas industry emissions during the COVID-19 lockdown. A generalized drop (∼30%) of NO2 emissions derived using the divergence method in comparison with 2019 was observed following the decline in production and drilling (13% and 68% respectively) during the lockdown. NO2 tropospheric columns were less impacted with a smaller decrease (∼4%) across the basins. This study demonstrates that the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on NO2 emissions was not only present in urban areas but also in vast O&G production regions, which shows the potential of TROPOMI to assess future pollution mitigation strategies for this industry.

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Author Serrano-Calvo, R.
Veefkind, J. P.
Dix, B.
De Gouw, J.
Levelt, Pieternel
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2023-07-16T00:00:00
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Topic Category geoscientificInformation
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Metadata Date 2025-07-11T15:16:15.111766
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:26515
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Serrano-Calvo, R., Veefkind, J. P., Dix, B., De Gouw, J., Levelt, Pieternel. (2023). COVID-19 impact on the oil and gas industry NO2 emissions: A case study of the Permian basin. UCAR/NCAR - Library. https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7tf02ct. Accessed 11 August 2025.

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